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Past vs Present...

Hi all,

Just a thought that, whilst sitting here, crept into my mind. Would the world champ player of say the 1980's be able to compete with the world champs today? Technique is emphasised alot and practice of things like 'shadow' and split stepping is even more common.
So, with all the development to the present day, would the world champs in their peak in say the 80's (a doubles pair), be able to keep up with the speed of say Ha/Kim due to the change in theory etc.

I've noticed that today's players are bigger and stronger and they have the advantage of the latest badminton technology. Today's game centers a lot around power and so the game has evolved at the fundamental level. Notice how nearly all international level MS or MD players will do jump-smashes today while that statement can only be said for perhaps the elite bunch of yesteryears.

As a contrast, I made a statement in the "badminton videos" thread that the players of the 80's and 90's seemed more graceful and fluid-like, because their games did not center completely on power. Also, those players did not have Ultimum-Ti, or Muscle Power technology, etc. in their rackets.

If all variables were kept the same (ie. same rackets, shoes), then I would think the best players of yesterday can beat the best of today. Li Yong Bo/Tian Bing Yi in their prime would definitely slaughter the current crop of Chinese MD players. similarly, I believe Zhao Jian Hua/Yang Yang could match Chen Hong/Xia Xuan Ze. Regarding Kim/Ha, I don't think they can beat their predecessors, Park Joo Boon/Kim Moon Soo.

The players of the early eighties would not be at the top now. Even with the modern rackets their game and fitness would not be on a par with todays top players. That is not to say that if those players could come through again today, given access to modern training, techiques, rackets, competition etc those players wouldn't still make it to the top since they were undoubtedly great champions.

If you look at the early eighties the mens doubles was a totally different game, English and Scottish pairs were world class, the game was relatively slow and fitness was not well developed. When PJB, Sideks, BingYi/Yong Bo came onto the scene the game was revolutionised and England were suddenly nowhere. Park remained at the top for a long time. Even when he came back from retirement in 93/96 he was better than ever. He would possibly have matched Ricky/Rexy at their peak even though they came through a decade later. Even since then the game has gone up in speed again. So I think while a few of the greats were ahead of their time and could match the next generation the general standard has risen very sharply and your average player of 20 years ago would be totally outpaced in todays game.

In general with modern training techniques/rackets giving the players such great speed and power the game has lost some of its charm. Similarly in tennis people fail to appreciate the brilliance of Sampras and talk about the skill of McEnroe etc, there just isn't the time nowadays to play the more graceful game and players now are packed with muscle , meaning their movement, although faster, isn't as graceful. Compare a distance runner with a sprinter, the runner looks more easy/graceful than the sprinter!

In singles I can imagine Morton Frost bridging the generation gap best, since he could play the game in different ways and was mentally so strong. Even the singles game is so much faster now and the net area is played very differently, in the eighites we saw a lot of shot played from below the tape, net exchanges etc, now we see everything taken much early, flicked around the court, many driving exchanges etc.

Hmmmm.... A very interesting topic here..... I maybe young to know any of the 70s or even some of the 80s (was only a baby in the 80s then) but watching videoclips of the stuff including more recent ones lately, badminton has really changed itself.

If not mistaken, it was Yang Yang who broke the laws of badminton and made it a fast pace racket sport - before that it was Morten Frost who ruled badminton and it was just the plain clearings before one person mentally loses their concentration that then they start attacking. After Yang Yang, everyone was going for speed. Now it's seem to be speed and a lot of smashes - particularly in doubles match.

To be able to constantly smash so much and yet maintain the stamina and speed sounds impossible when it is possible.

IMHO present will always be better in the idea that
1. we learn from the past.
2. things and equiptment gets better that will give us more advantage or leverage.
If two person (one from the past other from the present) equal in everyway but one is using a wooden racket and string and the other is using a Ti-10 with titanium string i think the latter will have an advantage over the other.
3. new methods and ideas that enhances game play keeps popping around.

maybe that's why old world records are being broken again and again by the newer generations. and that shows we keep on improving, enhancing, evolving to be better than our predesessors.

Re: Past vs Present...

Originally posted by Matt Ross Hi all,

Just a thought that, whilst sitting here, crept into my mind. Would the world champ player of say the 1980's be able to compete with the world champs today? Technique is emphasised alot and practice of things like 'shadow' and split stepping is even more common.
So, with all the development to the present day, would the world champs in their peak in say the 80's (a doubles pair), be able to keep up with the speed of say Ha/Kim due to the change in theory etc.

Agree with you that Morten is a very hard working players and he started from bottom.

model for aspiring European players.

hopefully ... for all players around the world. bbn, how about Paul Erick? i dont know why there is no Asian players above 35 who still compete internationally (past & present)

If i recall correctly, Morten was under training in Indonesia sometimes in 80s ... During the time in which Indonesian Team had never expected that Morten could beat their National Hero at All England ... but Morten did ... He won the All England by beating Indonesian Player ... (I forgot who the player was, was he Lim Swee King?).